slumber party sugar rush

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As someone who grew up in a junk food-free household, half the fun of getting to stay up late with my friends at slumber parties was the sugar rush that helped get us through those countless games of Truth or Dare and repeated Princess Bride viewings. Now that I'm older and after-midnight girl time has graduated to cocktails and discussions of John Cusack's career choices since Lloyd Dobler, my friends and I still get nostalgic for the late-night munchies of our youth.

Turns out, we all had different sleepover snacks depending on where we grew up. When I lived in Minneapolis, the treat of choice was Puppy Chow — the ooey, gooey mixture of melted chocolate and peanut butter coating Rice Chex and covered in powdered sugar. When we moved south to Little Rock, the custom was to nuke slices of Velveeta cheese and a can of diced Rotel salsa to create our own queso.

DIYers like my friend Gena from New Jersey long for the days of build-your-own pizzas. Rice Krispies Treats were the big thing in the West, according to Connie from Orange County and Celena from Seattle. And popcorn was all the rage in the South: Jodi from New Orleans liked hers covered in melted chocolate; Christine from Knoxville craved caramel corn; and in Birmingham, Amy preferred it air-popped and buttered.

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Comments

I've never head of Puppy Chow, but yeah, growing up in Jersey it was all about the pizza. Chips and dip and build-your-own sundaes were also big.

Okay, we always used to eat Pixie sticks and kool-aid mix (minus the water)... We had such amazing sugar rushes!! (KY)

Puppy Chow is delicious, but it actually does look like dog food. Between that and the name, I somehow can't bring myself to eat it. I think the iconic Southern California sleepover food would be chips and 5 layer dip from Trader Joe's or Costco. The sight of beans, guacamole, sour cream, salsa and cheese still makes me want to prank call boys and replay over and over the part in "Cruel Intentions" where you ALMOST see Ryan Phillipes bottom.

In Connecticut, we were all about the chocolate chip cookies and Rice Krispies Treats. Somehow they always tasted best when made in the middle of the night while trying not to wake someone's parents.

I also thought we were quite the chefs when we made the Aunt Jemima coffee cake from a mix (little tray included), and I still remember the night my best friend and I combined Ruffles potato chips with chocolate icing. Awesome.

We made banana splits and ate until we couldn't breathe. That was in 8th grade, but those that were there still talk about it nearly 20 years later.

Velveeta and Rotel was always the highlight of our Kansas slumber parties. But we also loved the block of cream cheese with salsa poured generously over the top for dipping chips.

Uncooked desserts also took center stage in various forms -- usually chocolate chip or peanut butter cookie dough and the always-delicious brownie batter.

In Brooklyn, we were all about the Lipton Onion Soup mix and sour cream combo. Scoop it up with some Doritos or potato chips and we were good to go. In terms of the sweet stuff, I seem to remember eating raw Pillsbury chocolate cookie dough (with or without ice cream).

Making your own sundaes (up here in Connecticut) yum yum!!!

Can I get a recipe for Puppy Chow? Yum!
My high school sleepovers were all about Coke and Cool Ranch Doritos.

Hi B. Ho --

Here's a link to the classic Chex recipe:
http://www.chex.com/Recipes/RecipeView.aspx?RecipeId=19919&CategoryId=342

Chocolate fondue! Gotta love chocolate covered strawberries!! :-D

When we were little it was build your own sundaes, smores, and Jiffy Pop then as teens we craved salt more and turned to pizzas, air popped popcorn and Cheetos. When I was in high school, my girls and I turned to seven layer dip and devilled eggs. Today, in our late twenties, our signature dish when my group meets up is still devilled eggs. My friend's dad's recipe is the best! BTW, we're from NYC.

Peanut butter and fluff!

Nothing better.

well when you are here in califonia anything goes if you got the money sushi is a big hit but i dont got "the money" so we just eat anything thats bad for us we eat chacolate covered pizza and lots of candy and ice cream any junk food are always good at slumber parties

We were all about the chocolate! M&M's plain and peanut, fudge, Entemann's (sp?)Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nestle's or Yoohoo chocolate milk And S'Mores YUMO!....Then for salt..of course popcorn, chips and Lipton's Onion Soup Mix Dip and big pretzels in the oven. The main attraction was the Pepperidge Farms Chocolate Fudge Refrigerated Layer Cake...We split each cake by 4 people and ate until we were sick. But it was SOOOOOO Great! At breakfast, all I can remember is the Pepto!...LOL!

I <3 MAKING PIZZAS i wanna do that 4 my party this FRIDAY!!! But where do u get tha stuff u use to make it????

P.S. I <3 YOUR PARAGRAPH!!!!!!

I live in Newport RI and I just had my turning 11 slumber party... we made pizza for dinner... made our own sundeas and later mad s'mores over the grill... hehe... While watching movies we had lots of buttery popcorn and m&ms... chocolate covered strawberrys... I can't remember anymore... but it was a blast.